Hazard man charged with animal cruelty

HAZARD, Ky. (WYMT) - The Perry County Sheriff's Office is investigating its first animal cruelty case this year.

It was a sight that neighbors described as heartbreaking.

“They were very malnourished broken glass everywhere, no water, no doghouse feces everywhere, just really in bad shape,” said Deputy Jerry Burns.

A sheriff's deputy found the dogs at the home of Julius Walker on Hill Street in Hazard on Friday.

The deputy took both dogs from the home and kept them until they could be placed in foster care.

The dogs were kept on second floor balcony of the home.

The deputy says the limited amount of space they had to live and play in was enough to be concerned.

“When I was taking the dogs I said the dogs were in bad shape and he didn't disagree with that. And he didn't have problems with me taking them, I just don't think he wanted to care for them anymore,” said Burns.

Walker was cited for two counts of 2nd degree animal cruelty.

The activist group Justice for Abused Animals has been working with the Sheriff's Office on the case.

“The living conditions of these animals were devastating to me, the fact that they were living in their feces,” said Jamie Medlin of JFAA.

The deputy and JFAA activists say cases like this should not go unnoticed.

We went to Walker's home but nobody answered when we knocked on the door.

He will be in court for the citation on February 11th, and JFAA members say they plan to be there.

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